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Opposition succeeds in filing first 2008 impeach rap vs GLORIA

DoJ files criminal charges vs JdV, son on $329-M ZTE-NBN deal

By Benjamin B. Pulta, Charlie V. Manalo and Gerry Baldo

10/14/2008

Tit for tat.

For filing an impeachment complaint against President Arroyo, her Department of Justice (DoJ) yesterday not only recommended the filing of criminal charges against the De Venecias for their involvement in the ZTE-National Broadband Network (NBN) project but also cleared Mrs. Arroyo and the rest of her aides of any wrongdoing in the same deal.

The DoJ cleared the government of wrongdoing in the scuttled deal and called on the Ombudsman to probe the whistleblowers in the case.

In a 37-page resolution, the DoJ fact-finding panel on the NBN-ZTE scandal recommended the investigation by the Office of Ombudsman into the supposed violation of the anti-graft laws committed by Joey de Venecia III and/or former Speaker Jose de Venecia for pursuing government contracts and held that there was no evidence of overpricing in the costs of the project which has been abandoned due to allegations of graft and corruption.

The five-man panel headed by Justice Undersecretary Ernesto Pineda noted that the younger De Venecia is the beneficial owner of Amsterdam Holdings Inc. (AHI) which actively pursued the NBN contract.

“The panel of investigators notes that despite his relationship with then Speaker Jose de Venecia, Mr. Joey de Venecia, actively pursued government contracts. His possible use of the influence and clout of his father on government functionaries cannot be discounted. A conflict of interest is apparent herein,” the panel said.

“Accordingly, it is the recommendation of the panel of investigators that a copy of this report, together with copies of the transcript of stenographic notes of the testimonies of the resources persons, who appeared before the panel of investigators, be furnished the Office of the Ombudsman for the commencement of any proceeding against Mr. Joey de Venecia and/or then Speaker Jose de Venecia as it may deem appropriate under the circumstances,” the panel said.

The panel was formed to determine the personalities who may be held liable for violations of Republic Act No. 9184 (Government Procurement Reform Act), Republic Act No. 3019 ( Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) and other procurement and anti-graft laws in connection with the abandoned NBN-ZTE project.

The panel noted that although there are three proposals for the NBN project, only AHI and ZTE actively pursued their respective proposals.

The ZTE proposal was on a government to government basis with involved a tied loan from China Expot-Import Bank. It was on a direct contracting basis as allowed in Republic Act. 9184.

AHI’s proposal, unsolicitied, was submitted pursuant to the provision of the Build, Operate and Transfer Law.

It noted that based on the testimony of Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) Assistant Secretary Lorenzo Formoso III, AHI vigorously pursued its proposal despite the relationship of the younger De Venecia to the former Speaker.

De Venecia, himself, personally met with DoTC and Neda officials to discuss AHI’s proposal, in a bid to get favorable action.

“Apparently, the action of Mr. Joey de Venecia of directly bringing the proposal of AHI to Neda was meant to rein in the DoTC to seriously consider the same over and above the proposal of ZTE Corp., despite non-compliance with the BOT law, the resolution said.

AHI’s proposal had a cost of US$240 million but Formosa told the panel that was only capitalized at P625,000 with merely P5 million authorized capital and P312,4000 paid-up capital.

Noted was the absence of recommendations for criminal charges against former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos, Sr., as well as former Neda chief Romulo Neri.

Meanwhile, the unprecedented fourth impeachment complaint against President Arroyo, filed by lead complainant Joey de Venecia lll, the fourth against her in four years, was finally filed yesterday, beating perennial impeachment filer, lawyer Oliver Lozano, who is generally seen as the regular Arroyo “impeach me” complainant.

Lozano filed another impeachment complaint against Mrs. Arroyo for alleged betrayal of public trust in connection with the Philippine panel’s Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MoA-AD) with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Lozano, however, failed to beat the time of the filing of the De Venecia- Harry Roque complaint at 7:40 a.m. Lozano filed his complaint at 10:02 a.m. also yesterday.

The platoon of complainants, accompanied by militant solons, handed over the 97-page complaint (excluding the more than 1,000 pages of annexes) to Deputy Secretary, Dr. Ramon Ricardo Roque, who received the documents in his capacity as officer-in-charge.

The complaint was endorsed, as required by law, by members of the House led by House Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, along with partylist Reps. Teddy Casino (Bayan Muna) and Liza Maza (Gabriela).

It was gathered, however, that the leftist party listers only agreed to endorse the opposition’s complaint on condition that the complainants drop the charge on the MoA-AD forged between the Arroyo government and the MILF as the leftists congressmen endorse the so-called self-determination aspirations of the MILF. They, however, admitted that it would be an uphill battle as they do not have the numbers.

According to Joey, they decided to file the complaint immediately following the lifting of the one year ban, simply to prevent other groups to file another sham complaint.

“This is a very strong complaint. We are very sure, the people will support it. It will be able to hold on its own based on merits and evidence is very overwhelming,” De Venecia added.

However, one of the complainants might have thrown in the towel early as he insinuated that the President might again resort to bribery as alleged in their complaint.

“Some quarters in the majority actually welcome the filing of the impeachment complaint. They are salivating on the prospects that the impeachment complaint will be filed against their boss because this would mean for them Christmas in October,” said Suplico. “This is the best Christmas they will have.”

Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora admitted that Minority does not have enough numbers to support the complaint.

In a text message, Rep. Roilo Golez said that the issue will be discussed by the Minority group before issuing a statement. saying no position of the minority has been made.

On the part of the Liberal Party, party stalwarts disclosed they will neither support nor denounce the latest impeachment complained filed against the President.

The United Opposition (Uno) for its part, said they are supporting the fourth impeachment complaint filed against Arroyo, saying government leaders should always be held accountable for their actions.

Administration Rep. Mauricio Domogan (Lakas, Baguio City), vice chairman of the House Committee on Justice, said it is obvious that the real agenda of the impeachment filers is to gain political mileage.

Rep. Antonio Alvarez (Kampi, Palawan) said the impeachment complaint was doomed for lack of substance and basis, even as he had not even read the complaint.

House Justice Committee chair and Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor Jr said lawmakers are wondering why the impeachment complaint was filed with only less than two years left in President Arroyo’s term.

Speaker Prospero Nograles, for his part, said the new impeachment complaint against the President would go through the normal constitutional process, but assured that the administration-dominated House of Representatives will not be distracted from its prime duty to put in place the necessary safety nets to “shield our people from the adverse effects of the global financial crisis.”

“The impeachment complaint filed against President Arroyo will definitely go through the normal process as stipulated by our Constitution. But as we all know, the matter of impeachment, under our constitutional democracy, is a political exercise that needs to be resolved through a political process. Impeachment is largely a partisan issue,” he said.

Noting that the impeachment complaint is “ill-timed” because of the lurking threats of recession in many countries around the world and the proximity of the presidential election, Nograles said that national interest will remain as the overriding consideration on the actions of the majority coalition in the House of Representatives.

Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte, Kampi president claimed that the complaint is baseless.

“These are what I would call subprime complaints. They are not backed up by facts. They are actually press clippings repackaged as impeachment complaints. Take away the legal heading and what will be left are downloaded materials from the Internet. But who needs facts to gain political currency and media publicity when one piece of gossip can be leveraged as a legal challenge to the president nowadays. Yesterday’s news is today’s impeachment complaint,” Villafuerte said.

A copy of the complaint obtained by the Tribune showed that the grounds for the impeachment complaint include: betrayal of public trust in connection with President Arroyo’s involvement in the ZTE-NBN scandal; that the respondent betrayed public trust when she sold the country’s gold reserve in Mt. Diwalwal to the already controversial ZTE Corp. under the terms of an agreement that are grossly disadvantageous to the country’s interests; and that the respondent betrayed public trust by tampering with the results of the 2004 elections.

The complaint also alleged that President Arroyo committed culpable violations of the Constitution by entering into the Northrail project without the requisite approval of the monetary board and without giving reference to Filipino labor and investment. In addition, Mrs. Arroyo was also alleged to have violated the Constitution “by conspiring, directing, and tolerating with impunity, extra-judicial killings, forced disappearances, torture, massacre, illegal arrest and other gross and systematic violations of civil and political rights.”

The complainants also alleged that Mrs. Arroyo should be impeached as a result of acts amounting to bribery in connection with the ZTE-NBN deal; and when “she authorized the distribution of bribe money to members of congress in exchange for the hasty referral of the Pulido impeachment complaint to prevent the filing of a genuine impeachment complaint.”

The complaint also alleged that Mrs. Arroyo should be impeached “for acts of graft and corruption” in connection with the approval of the overpriced Northrail project; by profiting from the fertilizer scam; her involvement in the ‘hello Garci’ scandal; and for “allowing, encouraging, abetting, or otherwise acquiescing to the illegal and improper use of at least P5 billion in loans obtained by the Rural Credit Guarantee Corporation (Quedancor) to fund her administration’s 2004 electoral campaign and furthering political patronage.”